LITTLE FALLS, N.J. -- Teens who binge drink may be compromising the integrity of the white matter in the brain.

Action Points

Explain that a small cross-sectional study found that teens who binge drank had lower measures of fiber coherence in white matter in the brain than their peers who didn't drink.

LITTLE FALLS, N.J., April 22 -- Teens who binge drink may be compromising the integrity of the white matter in the brain.

In a cross-sectional study of 28 teens, those who reported binge drinking had lower measures of fiber coherence in white matter structure than their peers who abstained, Susan F. Tapert, Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues reported online in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Dr. Tapert said that because the brain is still developing during adolescence, "there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to the effects of neurotoxins such as high doses of alcohol."

White matter is essential to the relay of information in the brain, as it is composed of bundles of myelinated axons connecting grey matter areas.

Abnormalities in the white matter could result in the inability to consider multiple sources of information when making decisions and impair emotional functioning, Dr. Tapert said.

It has been shown that white matter is compromised in adult alcoholics, but it's less clear if the abnormalities appear only over the course of time.

So the researchers performed diffusion tensor imaging on 28 adolescents ages 16 to 19 -- half who binge drink, half who don't -- to obtain fractional anisotropy, a measure of directional coherence of white matter tracts.

They found that binge drinkers had lower fractional anisotropy measurements than controls in 18 white matter areas throughout the brain, including the corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and corona radiata (P<0.01).

These reductions suggest the "possibility of compromised white matter integrity in major fiber tract pathways in frontal, cerebellar, temporal, and parietal regions," the researchers said.

They also noted that theirs is the first study to describe such changes in young drinkers and those who do not have alcohol abuse or dependence problems.

Limited by a cross-sectional design and a modest sample size, the researchers said their findings nevertheless contribute to the growing literature that large doses of alcohol during youth may compromise white matter coherence.

The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.

Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco